by our College Data Analytics TeamThis page focuses on the debt students take on to attend University of Maryland-Baltimore County— how much they borrow, how that debt is spread across the student body, and what it costs to pay back. The data below is drawn directly from federal sources.
At UMBC specifically, 30% of incoming students take out a loan to help cover first-year costs, averaging $6,746 apiece. This figure includes both private and federally funded student loans.
The average federally funded loan is $5,058, amounting to 92.0% of the $5,500 federal limit that applies to a typical first-year dependent borrower. Remember the all-undergraduate figures below leave out private loans, so they will look lower than this private-plus-federal freshman amount.
Counting every undergraduate at UMBC, 28% rely on federal student loans toward their education, for a typical $6,163 each per year. This is 21.8% higher than the $5,058 freshmen take on.
At a steady annual pace, that totals around $12,326 by year two and around $24,652 across a four-year program. This assumes steady federal borrowing and leaves out private and Parent PLUS loans.
| Undergraduate federal borrowing | Value |
|---|---|
| Share using federal loans | 28% |
| Average federal loan per year | $6,163 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 2,968 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $18,291,499 |
The middle borrower at UMBC owes $15,750 in federal borrowing.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $15,750 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $19,500 |
| Students who withdrew | $10,500 |
Withdrawn-student debt matters because those borrowers carry the loans without the degree that helps repay them.
The median hides the spread, so the percentiles below show cumulative federal debt at four points in the distribution for UMBC.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $3,575 |
| 25th percentile | $7,398 |
| 75th percentile | $25,250 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $32,526 |
How wide this percentile range is tells you how much borrowing varies across students at UMBC.
Median federal debt understates the full cost when PLUS loans are included. The totals below add PLUS borrowing for UMBC.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 1287 | $22,830 |
| Completed (graduates) | 760 | $26,987 |
| Did not complete | 527 | $19,819 |
On a standard 10-year plan, the median completing borrower would pay about $320.9/mo.
Stafford loans are the federal direct-loan program most undergraduates use. The breakdown below separates borrowers who used Stafford loans from those who did not at UMBC.
Borrowers With Any Stafford Loan
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Used a Stafford loan | 1239 | $23,294 |
| No Stafford loan | 48 | $19,741 |
Current-Year Stafford Borrowers
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Stafford loan this year | 1048 | $22,770 |
| No Stafford loan this year | 239 | $23,399 |
The indicators below describe what the typical debt costs to pay back at UMBC.
The default rate measures how many borrowers fall behind and ultimately fail to repay their federal loans. The federal two-year cohort default rate for UMBC appears below.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 5.2% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 1941 |
A lower default rate generally signals that graduates earn enough to manage their loan payments.
Borrowing varies by family income, by first-generation status, and by dependency status.
By Family Income
| Income tier | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Low income | $17,094 |
| Middle income | $15,000 |
| High income | $15,304 |
First-Generation Comparison
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $15,750 |
| Continuing-generation students | $15,750 |
Dependency-Status Comparison
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $15,000 |
| Independent students | $20,600 |
Federal data publishes the following gap measures for UMBC.
Subsidized vs. Unsubsidized Loans
Unsubsidized federal student loans accrue interest every month — even while you are still enrolled. Unless you pay that interest as it builds, the balance you owe at graduation can be noticeably higher than the amount you originally borrowed.
Important to Remember
Unlike most other debt, federal student loans generally survive bankruptcy — and unpaid balances can lead to wage garnishment — so borrow only what you truly need.
References
More about our data sources and methodologies.